The regiment was formed in 1937 and assigned to the XXI Army Corps, which was based in Cyrenaica in eastern Libya.

During World War II the regiment formed engineer units for the Italian forces fighting in the Western Desert campaign.

After the Axis defeat in the Second Battle of El Alamein and the British conquest of Cyrenaica the regiment was declared lost due to wartime events.

[7][9] The regiment's anniversary falls, as for all engineer units, on 24 June 1918, the last day of the Second Battle of the Piave River.

The regiment was declared lost after the Axis defeat in the Second Battle of El Alamein in November 1942 and the following British conquest of Cyrenaica.

On 19 January 1963, the battalion moved from Trani to Vicenza in northern Italy, where it joined the III Missile Brigade.

[9][10] On 12 November 1976, the President of the Italian Republic Giovanni Leone assigned with decree 846 the flag and traditions of the 21st Engineer Regiment to the battalion.

Taking up garrison and peacekeeping duties in the city the regiment found itself soon embroiled in the Iraqi insurgency.

[1][2] After the August 2016 earthquake in Central Italy the regiment's companies deployed to the area to assist in the recovery efforts and to provide engineering services to the affected communities.